A SEARCH is on to find the identity of a young girl pictured in a recently released calendar highlighting Haddington’s past and present.

The town’s pipe band launched their 2017 calendar, which has provoked an enthusiastic response with its merging of old photos and new shots taken at the same locations, last month.

One photo in the calendar – Haddington Old and New – has provoked such a strong reaction that the band has turned detective to try to find out more about one of the subjects.

The 1907 photograph, which features in March, shows a young girl peering out from behind a lamppost in Gifford.

The image has captured people’s interest and now the publishers are looking to find out if anyone knows who the girl might be.

“From the moment the exhibition of the photos opened at the Loft cafe, it seemed that many, many people were drawn to the girl by the lamppost,” said Alastair Bruce, Haddington Pipe Band chairman.

“Without doubt it’s a captivating image, and as more and more people were commenting on it, we decided that we would try to find out who the girl is.

“We’re therefore appealing to anyone who might recognise the photo and have any idea who she might be to contact us.

“We can be reasonably confident that she stayed in Gifford.

“She’d perhaps be about 12 years old in 1907 so may have survived until the 1980s.

“She may well have gone on to have family – perhaps locally – and perhaps there are grandchildren or great-grandchildren out there who may just recognise her and be able to help us.

“Was she perhaps one of the Baillie family, whose shop we can see behind her?”

Mr Bruce told the Courier they were keen to find out more about the youngster, with the calendar available from a number of local shops and through the pipe band’s website for £5.

He added: “We’d love to find out and be able to give a bit more information to people who are asking about her.

“The calendar has been all about connecting the old with the new, and finding an answer to this puzzle would be a great and very tangible example of this objective.”

The 1907 photo was sourced from the archives in Haddington’s John Gray Centre.

Anyone with information is asked to email calendar@had dingtonpipeband.co.uk